Interlachen Woman Shot by Deputy

INTERLACHEN, Fla. -- New tonight... a shooting in Putnman County has put an elderly woman in the hospital.she thought people were after her... so she called for help.

But when that help arrived she made a big mistake.A woman from Interlachen was rushed to the hospital early this morning after opening fire on deputies.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, 61-year-old Dianne Connor had called the police for help because she thought there were burglars in her yard.But after arriving at her home and checking the area, deputies didn't find anyone.

"We hear all this pow, pow, pow and got up and saw all the police out there," said neighbors Jackie Price and Bob Thomas.

Jackie Price and her husband Bob Thomas received various phone calls from their next door neighbor on Sunday night.Price says her neighbor Dianne Connor called her and said her phone line was being tracked.

"She said 'the gangs are out here watching me too. They're coming after me,'" said Price.

Price says this isn't the first time Connor acted this way.

"In December she was doing the same thing to me. She came over to talk to Bob about the same thing. She said people were watching her, you could listen to her across the lake and everything. So she thought everybody was after her."

Connor called the Sheriff's Office and then refused to believe the man outside her home was in fact a deputy.She continued to call her neighbors until they contacted the authorities themselves.

"This time when we went back, there were two units that responded, two deputies went back to the house," said Sgt. Hancel Woods with Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

"Connor stepped into the driveway with a rifle and started to shoot at the two deputies. And that's when Deputy Thomas Burger returned fire… hitting her four times."

"I think it's sad, but you know, I know the police if someone pulls a gun on them they have to react. And I think it's sad that she didn't know to get help or if she does pull through, maybe she will get help now."

Neither of the deputies were hurt.Sergeant Woods says they took the necessary precautions.

"It's hard to not be complacent when you go to calls that seem simple or you go to calls over and over and everything is fine and nothing goes wrong. But unfortunately, you honestly never really know and you have to be prepared for this type of thing. It's a very unfortunate part of our job," said Woods.

Sergeant Woods says Connor underwent surgery and is currently in the ICU unit.